night time interruptus
by tombombadillo
Summary: Lanie phones Beckett. Beckett is not the one who answers.


**A/N: trying to write myself out of a can't do anything have no motivation please just let me curl up in a duvet for the rest of my life period. Based on various spoilers from various places blah blah bloo di blah**

**Disclaimer: I don't know something funny about not owning castle and/or whatever else idc**

* * *

He's just about to sleep. He can feel the heaviness of his eyes, the dark recesses of his brain closing down for the night. Kate is already asleep, or half asleep. More asleep than him, her hair a dark halo against the pillow. Once morning arrives and the sun shines in through the window it'll come alive, all gold and light browns, falling in lazy waves against her back. And he does like her hair. He sinks further into the pillow, smiles to himself as Kate mutters something in her sleep, and then – a phone. A loud phone. Blaring in his ear and waking him up. Kate growls, flings an arm across his chest in a vain attempt to shut it up? Answer it? But it's futile and the noise hasn't woke her up properly. Castle groans, trying to find the offending piece of machinery with searching fingers.

"'Lo?" He grunts, once he's answered and pressed it to his ear.

There's a beat of silence, and then… "Castle?!"

Castle sits bolt upright, jolting the bed causing Kate to push at him with the heel of her hand. "I – um – it's not – Lanie. Hi."

"Richard Castle, would you care to explain _why_ exactly you are answering _Kate Beckett's_ phone at half twelve in the morning?"

"Um, no?" He winced, trying to wake Kate up.

"Is Kate there?"

"Depends on what you mean by _there_."

"Is she in bed. With you. Probably naked."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Put her on the phone."

Kate's already got her hand up and Castle puts the phone in her open palm carefully. Why was Kate's phone on his side of the bed anyway. That wasn't fair. In his half asleep mind any phone that rings he's going to answer. He doesn't recognise his own ringtone half the time. But regardless of answering the wrong phone, Kate is still smiling at him in that half asleep adorably adorable way. And then she sighs, rolls over onto her back and puts the phone to her ear.

"Lanie."

"Oh no, you do not get to Lanie me. How long has this been going on?"

"Does it really matter, what do you want?"

"Something interesting. But, that can wait. Come on, I want details."

Kate sighed, laying an arm across her eyes. "Can we do this another time when I am not half asleep?"

"Well, why don't you come down to the morgue with _writer boy_ and you can tell me all about it."

"Can't you just tell me over the phone? M'comfy."

"You're _comfy_?!" Lanie shrieked, and Kate held the phone away from her ear with a pained expression. "Katherine Beckett, you are unbelievable."

"Yes, I know, and I suspect I'll pay for it tomorrow. Just, tell me what you know and I'll tell you everything over a glass of wine, okay?"

Lanie didn't sound at all happy at that particular proposition, but she let it slide. "Fine. The test results came back on the powder that we found in the vic's hair. It's porcelain. Ground up very fine, it must have been in the air where ever she was. There's also minute traces of it in her lungs, and on her skin-"

Castle, who had been listening in with his ear pressed against the other side of the phone jumped up suddenly, and in his haste to reach for his shirt fell off the bed with a loud thump. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head ruefully before turning to look at Kate with a gleeful look in his eye.

"I don't like that look."

"What look?" Lanie asked.

"The look where he's thinking he just solved a murder." Kate sighed, kicking away the covers. "We may see you sooner than you think."

"Uh-uh." Kate could practically hear the M.E. smiling.

Kate hung up and flung the phone down onto the bed. She groaned, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep. She looked at Castle was standing there in his shirt, and just his shirt. "Go on, say it."

He grinned. "I know who the killer is."


End file.
